Clip from Australian docuseries ‘The Swap’ shared with communal twist

Hyderabad: A video clip showing non-Muslim students being taught to do namaz along with Muslim students has gone viral on the internet.

Shashank Shekhar Jha, a Supreme Court lawyer, shared the video and claimed that students were forced to read namaz without their parent’s permission. (Archive)

A Twitter handle, Megh Updates, which has been called out many times for peddling fake news, shared the video and wrote, “Australia: Parents go furious as a video of children in Australia being taught how to pray in a mosque goes viral. Furious parents accuse the school of brainwashing and Islamizing their children in the name of pleasing a migrant community.” (Archive)

Several Twitter users shared the video with the same claim.

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Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the video is from an experimental docuseries aimed to break down barriers and build bridges between families from vastly different cultures.

In the viral video, we noticed the byte of Ali Kadri, CEO of the Islamic College of Brisbane, and the logo of Special Broadcasting Service (SBS), Australia’s most diverse broadcaster.

Taking these as cues, we searched for Ali Kadri and found a video tweeted by him which features students seen in the viral video. In the tweet, he said that he participated in a ground-breaking docuseries called ‘The Swap.’ The series is an emotional journey of 12 diverse students and families aimed at challenging preconceptions and promoting cultural cohesion.

We also found the viral video published on SBS Australia’s verified Facebook page. As per the captions, ‘The Swap’ premiered on 8 March.

Next, we came across an article on the SBS website titled “New SBS series ‘The Swap’ is a bold school experiment.” It features photographs of 11 students, some of whom are seen in the viral video.

As per the article, ‘The swap,’ a new three-part documentary series, is a ground-breaking social experiment which casts 12 students—six Muslim families, four Catholic families, and two atheist families. It explores whether a school swap can make a real difference in breaking down social barriers and building greater acceptance, respect, and understanding between diverse cultural communities. It also considers the possibility that the experiment can backfire leading to controversies.

It is also mentioned in the article that the man behind ‘The Swap’ is Ali Kadri, CEO of the Islamic College of Brisbane.

We also found the trailer of ‘The Swap’ on the SBS Australia YouTube channel. It shows people of different religions and cultures interacting and happily agreeing to disagree.

From this, it is evident that the viral clip is from an experimental docuseries made in Australia. Hence, we conclude that the claim is false.